Who Are You Writing For? NaNo and Beyond
At layout last week, one of my colleagues on the paper staff and I were talking about a paper we had to write for one of our professors. It was late, we were tired, and sometimes it's fun to complain, admittedly, but one of the things someone said really bothered me: "I think we just learn how to write for the professor, instead of learning how to write better."
Everyone nodded in agreement, and I will admit that part of the "strategy" of school success at any grade level is to find out what the teacher likes or expects to hear and write it. What I take issue with is the second part of that statement, that this does not improve one's writing ability. Part of this is because I'm of the school that believes that the only way to learn how to write really is just to do it, come what may. But there's more to it than that.
November is National Novel Writing Month, as some of you might be know. And this November, as last year, I decided to participate. (I won, too; 51,310 words by November 30. Part of the reason I mention this is because this is my reason for neglecting this blog so horribly. I honestly thought I could handle doing blog posts and NaNo, because I did so last year, but obviously things didn't work out as I'd planned. I only say this for those who bookmarked this and was expecting updates; I'm really sorry to disappoint. I'm disappointed in myself, too).
So, back to NaNo: My project this year was actually a novel, as opposed to last year's fanfic. I came into it all excited about my idea, thinking the structure of it would help me to finish. As it turned out, this vignettes-knitted-together thing had the opposite effect; without a set end point I found myself getting lost and overwhelmed- what section do I write first? How many sections will there be? And so on.
After what must have been six attempts at that, I scrapped it and started an entirely new story. It was about a writer, ironically enough (or not, actually, as you'll see). And though it took me until the very last day, I did it. I completed my novel, and I felt really good about myself in the process.
I haven't gone back and re-read this novel yet. I know when I'll do I'll have a mile-long list of corrections to make, and I'd like to let it sit for a while, to let myself veg on it. I'm noticing that this is a stark contrast to last year, when I finished a 52,000-plus word novel-length fanfic in 18 days. There are probably several factors at work here; I had a clearer sense of character going into it, I had a complete outline done weeks in advance as opposed to coming up with a new one during the first week in November, I lived by myself and didn't have the close friends that I do this year (a BIG one; more time with them meant less writing time), a more demanding class schedule... and last year, I knew my audience.
I knew that other people were going to read that piece when I posted it online, and I knew what those people would like to read, drawing on successful fanfics of the same genre. So I knew what scenes to include, what pacing would work best, etc. This year, I knew that the audience for an actual work of fiction would be the wider world, with more varied tastes and interests, and a greater demand for quality. Not to say all fanfics are bad (because I've read lovely ones with amazing writing), but the fact of it is, the standards are not the same. I knew that to get this book read it would have to be really good and original, but I had more leeway with the fanfic. I would try my best, of course, but it wasn't the end of the world if one particular verb wasn't a strong as it could be. That was really freeing.
Another reason my first idea was giving me so much trouble was that I was so invested in it. I almost needed people to take my words to heart, words about acceptance and love and taking delight in the small things- my values, conveyed through the stories. But I wasn't sure if those allusions that worked for me would trigger the same feelings in another person whose experiences or beliefs were antithetical to mine. So I stressed out about creating the right tone, the right texture of the words. NOT to say this isn't a good thing, and I certainly do have to think about those things whenever I write. But when it got so bad as to be a hindrance, that is a problem. I think, perhaps, having a set audience in mind other than "the world" would have helped.
Apples and oranges, some might say. Fanfic and original fiction are two entirely different beasts. True, to an extent. But the point stands. I can provide other examples, if you like. This blog post, for instance, is being written for people about my age, perhaps a little bit older, who are interested in writing and the processes involved. As such, I can tailor my sentence structure and word choice to that audience. I can use a more informal tone that I'd never get away with in a paper.
Actually, writing blogs like this helps me with papers. Sometimes they allow me to order my thoughts, or look at things from another perspective. But the technical aspects, too, like getting comfortable with this sort of tone and argument structure, have also been helpful. When I started integrating things like dry humor into my papers for class, teachers noticed and praised it. It made that writing, in their eyes and mine, better.
I think, too, it's helped with my dialogue. If I'm already writing in a relatively informal way, then characters talking to each other sound more natural within the story. And I don't have to change my mindset as completely each time someone speaks.
So far, we've talked about more general audiences, specific groups, which doesn't directly address my classmate's concern about writing for one professor. But, to return to my dry wit/humor example: that was something that one professor really enjoyed about my writing. But I'm willing to bet most of you would also find such a thing interesting or noteworthy in something you chose to read. If you write for a generic audience, you can almost be too bland. Knowing what a specific person likes to read can give you insight into other people's preferences, general public-y things, as well.
Another professor of mine continually praised my use of descriptive language in his class. (And, again, descriptive language is something most people appreciate.) So, the next time I wrote something for him, I included even more of it. And, it was fun. I really enjoyed going off on a tangent of flowery prose, talking about the soft caress of the breeze on the character's cheek, the crackle of the fire as its waves of heat massaged her toes- even coming up with that example was fun. It reminded me, again, why I love writing so much. As much as it can be frustrating and nerve-wracking and sometimes the last thing I want to do at a given moment, coming up with a phrase like that can turn it all on its head and make everything wonderful again.
When you do that, aren't you kind of making your audience yourself? Writing the book you would want to read, the poem that has meaning to you? I think that if you write like that, readers will connect with the story because you put your heart and soul into it. This is one of the things that my NaNo main character Mel learns: when you lose the fun in writing, you really can't make anyone else enjoy your work either.
If it ever comes up again, I might say something to my classmate. Most likely I won't, because I'm not a confrontational person and I hate conflict of all kinds, but I might. I could tell her, "What about if you wrote for yourself? That's also an audience of one, but you can't deny it makes you a better writer. Or what if writing for your professor makes you discover something else that you yourself like to put in your writing? A drily humorous quip, for instance. Wouldn't that improve your writing?"
Who is judging improvement, anyway? You change professors every semester; they can see it over the course of three months but not how it relates to how you wrote a month before that, or a year, or three. But you know. We are all the best judge of our own writing. For instance, this post's argument may not be the strongest I've ever made. It probably has a few fallacies in it, actually, which bother me. But I'm going to post it, because I love the message I'm sharing, the passion I can find filling me back up when I re-read the words. (The way I did a post about my NaNo experience without it really being about my NaNo experience at all.)
I'm happy with it, and in the end, that's the only audience that counts.
Everyone nodded in agreement, and I will admit that part of the "strategy" of school success at any grade level is to find out what the teacher likes or expects to hear and write it. What I take issue with is the second part of that statement, that this does not improve one's writing ability. Part of this is because I'm of the school that believes that the only way to learn how to write really is just to do it, come what may. But there's more to it than that.
November is National Novel Writing Month, as some of you might be know. And this November, as last year, I decided to participate. (I won, too; 51,310 words by November 30. Part of the reason I mention this is because this is my reason for neglecting this blog so horribly. I honestly thought I could handle doing blog posts and NaNo, because I did so last year, but obviously things didn't work out as I'd planned. I only say this for those who bookmarked this and was expecting updates; I'm really sorry to disappoint. I'm disappointed in myself, too).
So, back to NaNo: My project this year was actually a novel, as opposed to last year's fanfic. I came into it all excited about my idea, thinking the structure of it would help me to finish. As it turned out, this vignettes-knitted-together thing had the opposite effect; without a set end point I found myself getting lost and overwhelmed- what section do I write first? How many sections will there be? And so on.
After what must have been six attempts at that, I scrapped it and started an entirely new story. It was about a writer, ironically enough (or not, actually, as you'll see). And though it took me until the very last day, I did it. I completed my novel, and I felt really good about myself in the process.
I haven't gone back and re-read this novel yet. I know when I'll do I'll have a mile-long list of corrections to make, and I'd like to let it sit for a while, to let myself veg on it. I'm noticing that this is a stark contrast to last year, when I finished a 52,000-plus word novel-length fanfic in 18 days. There are probably several factors at work here; I had a clearer sense of character going into it, I had a complete outline done weeks in advance as opposed to coming up with a new one during the first week in November, I lived by myself and didn't have the close friends that I do this year (a BIG one; more time with them meant less writing time), a more demanding class schedule... and last year, I knew my audience.
I knew that other people were going to read that piece when I posted it online, and I knew what those people would like to read, drawing on successful fanfics of the same genre. So I knew what scenes to include, what pacing would work best, etc. This year, I knew that the audience for an actual work of fiction would be the wider world, with more varied tastes and interests, and a greater demand for quality. Not to say all fanfics are bad (because I've read lovely ones with amazing writing), but the fact of it is, the standards are not the same. I knew that to get this book read it would have to be really good and original, but I had more leeway with the fanfic. I would try my best, of course, but it wasn't the end of the world if one particular verb wasn't a strong as it could be. That was really freeing.
Another reason my first idea was giving me so much trouble was that I was so invested in it. I almost needed people to take my words to heart, words about acceptance and love and taking delight in the small things- my values, conveyed through the stories. But I wasn't sure if those allusions that worked for me would trigger the same feelings in another person whose experiences or beliefs were antithetical to mine. So I stressed out about creating the right tone, the right texture of the words. NOT to say this isn't a good thing, and I certainly do have to think about those things whenever I write. But when it got so bad as to be a hindrance, that is a problem. I think, perhaps, having a set audience in mind other than "the world" would have helped.
Apples and oranges, some might say. Fanfic and original fiction are two entirely different beasts. True, to an extent. But the point stands. I can provide other examples, if you like. This blog post, for instance, is being written for people about my age, perhaps a little bit older, who are interested in writing and the processes involved. As such, I can tailor my sentence structure and word choice to that audience. I can use a more informal tone that I'd never get away with in a paper.
Actually, writing blogs like this helps me with papers. Sometimes they allow me to order my thoughts, or look at things from another perspective. But the technical aspects, too, like getting comfortable with this sort of tone and argument structure, have also been helpful. When I started integrating things like dry humor into my papers for class, teachers noticed and praised it. It made that writing, in their eyes and mine, better.
I think, too, it's helped with my dialogue. If I'm already writing in a relatively informal way, then characters talking to each other sound more natural within the story. And I don't have to change my mindset as completely each time someone speaks.
So far, we've talked about more general audiences, specific groups, which doesn't directly address my classmate's concern about writing for one professor. But, to return to my dry wit/humor example: that was something that one professor really enjoyed about my writing. But I'm willing to bet most of you would also find such a thing interesting or noteworthy in something you chose to read. If you write for a generic audience, you can almost be too bland. Knowing what a specific person likes to read can give you insight into other people's preferences, general public-y things, as well.
Another professor of mine continually praised my use of descriptive language in his class. (And, again, descriptive language is something most people appreciate.) So, the next time I wrote something for him, I included even more of it. And, it was fun. I really enjoyed going off on a tangent of flowery prose, talking about the soft caress of the breeze on the character's cheek, the crackle of the fire as its waves of heat massaged her toes- even coming up with that example was fun. It reminded me, again, why I love writing so much. As much as it can be frustrating and nerve-wracking and sometimes the last thing I want to do at a given moment, coming up with a phrase like that can turn it all on its head and make everything wonderful again.
When you do that, aren't you kind of making your audience yourself? Writing the book you would want to read, the poem that has meaning to you? I think that if you write like that, readers will connect with the story because you put your heart and soul into it. This is one of the things that my NaNo main character Mel learns: when you lose the fun in writing, you really can't make anyone else enjoy your work either.
If it ever comes up again, I might say something to my classmate. Most likely I won't, because I'm not a confrontational person and I hate conflict of all kinds, but I might. I could tell her, "What about if you wrote for yourself? That's also an audience of one, but you can't deny it makes you a better writer. Or what if writing for your professor makes you discover something else that you yourself like to put in your writing? A drily humorous quip, for instance. Wouldn't that improve your writing?"
Who is judging improvement, anyway? You change professors every semester; they can see it over the course of three months but not how it relates to how you wrote a month before that, or a year, or three. But you know. We are all the best judge of our own writing. For instance, this post's argument may not be the strongest I've ever made. It probably has a few fallacies in it, actually, which bother me. But I'm going to post it, because I love the message I'm sharing, the passion I can find filling me back up when I re-read the words. (The way I did a post about my NaNo experience without it really being about my NaNo experience at all.)
I'm happy with it, and in the end, that's the only audience that counts.